Kaitlyn's Back!
by TNIIT
Summary: Let's just say life at PPTH will never be dull again now that Kaitlyn's back. NOT ANOTHER LONG LOST DAUGHTER STORY! :D Please R&R. :D
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 

Kaitlyn walked through the automatic doors of PPTH and looked around at the room full of people in the clinic. She smiled and started to shake her head as she already had an idea of who was on clinic duty. She was about to walk through the clinic when a little girl caught her eye.

She was about the age of 4 years old and was sitting on her mother's lap sucking her thumb. Beside her was a little boy that looked like he had been on the spinning tea-cups at Coney Island a few too many times. Kaitlyn walked over to the two kids, reached in her bag and pulled out two candy canes. She smiled and handed them to the little girl and said "Now, one is for you and the other is for your brother when he's feeling better, ok?" The little girl looked up at her mother for approval and saw her mother nod her head, so she slowly reached out and took the two candy canes and quietly replied, "Thank you" before sticking her thumb back in her mouth.

"You're very welcome sweetie" replied Kaitlyn before walking away, "and Merry Christmas."

Kaitlyn then proceeded to walk to the elevators and hit the up button. After a few minutes the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Two elderly women got off the elevator and Kaitlyn moved to the side to let them pass. They smiled at her and went on their way. Kaitlyn walked on to the elevator and hit the button for the fourth floor. Just as the doors were about to close, she heard someone yell, "Wait! Hold the elevator!"

The doors were six inches from closing when she again heard the same voice say, "Son of a bit…." The person never got to finish his sentence as Kaitlyn had pressed the open button on the elevator panel and the doors had opened again. The man looked sheepishly at Kaitlyn and said "Thanks. I thought you didn't hear me."

She smirked and replied, "No no, I heard everything you said" before turning her attention to the elevator panel and pressing the button for the fourth floor again.

The man cleared his throat and said, "You're going to the fourth floor too huh?" Kaitlyn looked over at the man standing next to her and for the first time realized that he had an Australian accent. He was about the same height as she was and was wearing brown pants and a plain black shirt. He wasn't too bad looking either except for the fact that he was wearing a red tie and a brown and yellow belt, which was the weirdest look, she had ever seen. He had a white lab coat draped over his right arm and a briefcase in his hand. From the looks of him, Kaitlyn guessed that he must have been a doctor.

She realized that she was staring and hadn't answered his question yet so quickly diverted her gaze to the elevator doors and nodded her head.

When they arrived at the fourth floor, the doctor was so anxious to get out of the elevator that he tripped over the gap between the elevator and the floor. Kaitlyn reached out to steady him before he fell and the doctor gave her a quick nod before walking as fast as he could without looking obvious away from Kaitlyn before he made a bigger fool of himself. Kaitlyn just shook her head and tried to stifle her laughter before making her way out of the elevator and towards her destination, the office of Doctor Gregory House.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Kaitlyn walked into his office without knocking and wasn't too surprised at what she saw. There was no one in there. His desk was in disarray as usual, but his bag was there so that at least meant he was in the building. She was debating whether to wait for him or leave when she turned towards the conference room and saw none other than elevator-doc. Beside him was another male doctor who seemed to be older than elevator-doc. He appeared to be reading over a patient's chart and was making notes in the margin. He was a handsome black man with broad shoulders and what seemed to Kaitlyn to be a very chiseled body underneath his lab coat.

'Hmm….' thought Kaitlyn to herself, 'I've seen two hot doctors already and I've only been here for 15 minutes. I think I'm gonna like this place.'

Next, she turned her gaze over to the remaining occupant of the conference room who just happened to be making coffee. She seemed to be the same age as Kaitlyn, maybe a year or two older. 'Getting the female to make the coffee huh? Why am I not surprised' thought Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and made her way over to the conference room. They were all so enthralled in what they were doing, elevator-doc in his crossword, smarty-pants-doc in his charting and push-over-doc in making coffee that none of them noticed Kaitlyn until she had walked right into the conference room.

They all looked up at her at once and Kaitlyn heard a quiet, "Oh sh-t!" come from elevator doc before he quickly looked back at his crossword and starting filling in spaces with what Kaitlyn was sure were just random letters. Smarty-pants-doc seemed to notice this too, but chose to ignore it and smiled up at Kaitlyn.

"Hi, can I help you with something?" he asked.

Kaitlyn smiled back and answered, "Yes. Can you tell me where I can find Gr..umm….Dr. House?"

Now it was push-over-doc's turn to speak. "He has clinic duty until noon so he should be…"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before Kaitlyn chimed in "So, I should look everywhere but the clinic right?"

"Right!" replied smarty-pants-doc laughing. Push-over-doc didn't find this all too amusing and looked as if she was sizing Kaitlyn up. 'Insecure-much?' thought Kaitlyn.

"Okay, well I guess I'll go then. I was hoping to see him before my meeting with Dr. Cuddy and Stacey Warner, but I guess I'll catch up with him afterwards. Thanks for all your help doctor….?"

"Foreman," replied smarty-pants-doc, "and this is Dr. Cameron" he said pointing at push-over-doc, "and this is Dr. Chase" pointing at elevator-doc, who still had his head down.

Kaitlyn walked over to Foreman and shook his hand, "Nice to meet you. And Dr. Chase and I go waayy back. All the way to the elevators, isn't that right Dr. Chase?" Chase looked up and forced a smile. She rounded the table to look over Chase's shoulder and said, "A 6 letter word for hat huh? Umm, Dr. Chase, I don't think 'DRUHFN' is a word." Chase looked down to see what he had written and turned his pencil over to erase the letters, turning bright red at the same time.

Cameron then walked over to the table feeling a bit neglected from the conversation and stuck out her hand for Kaitlyn to shake. Kaitlyn had a little smirk on her face but shook her hand anyway.

"So you have a meeting with Cuddy and Stacey?" she asked.

Kaitlyn nodded her head and looked at her watch, "And if I don't leave now, I'm going to be late. It was nice to meet all of you. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around." And with that she headed for the door.

"Wait," replied Cameron, "Did you want us to give a message to Dr. House for you?"

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes before turning around to face Cameron, "No that's okay, I'll just come by later. And oh Dr. Chase?" Chase looked up from his erasing to hear Kaitlyn say, "A 6 letter word for hat? Try 'bonnet'". And with that, she winked at Chase and headed out the door back to the elevators.

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A/N So what do u think? R&R for cookies ;-)


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 

After Kaitlyn left, the three doctors were quiet for a while. None of them knew what to say. Chase sat there feeling like a fool, first for the elevator incident and then for the 'DURHFN' thing. Cameron sat there wondering who this chick was that knew about House's antics and almost called him by his first name. Foreman just sat there with a grin on his face because it was funny to see Cameron jealous. She still wasn't over the guy and Foreman had no clue what she saw in House. He also couldn't help but wonder what happened in the elevator between Chase and….wait, she didn't even give her name.

"So Chase, do you want to share the elevator incident with us?" asked Foreman setting the chart he was working on aside.

Chase looked up to see Foreman smirking and simply replied, "No".

"C'mon man, I heard you say 'Oh, sh-t!' when she came in here and I'm pretty sure that she heard it too judging by the look on her face after you said it. So what happened?" asked Foreman again grinning from ear to ear.

Upon hearing this, Chase cringed inwardly and mentally added this to the stupid things he's done in her presence so far. The list was slowly but surely growing. Cameron, wanting to know more about this mystery girl, suddenly sat up straight and said, "Yeah Chase, what happened?"

Foreman and Cameron continued to stare at Chase, while Chase pretended not to notice. Finally he just couldn't stand it anymore and threw his pencil down and replied, "Nothing happened! I just hollered out at her to hold the elevator doors. They were almost closed so I just assumed that whoever was in the elevator was an a$$ and couldn't be bothered to hold the elevator for another human being. I was half way through cursing at them when the doors reopened and she was standing there holding them open for me."

At this point Foreman started to laugh and said, "Way to make a first impression there Chase!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know I would run into the one person in the world that actually holds the elevator open for someone?" replied Chase.

"I do it all the time" came the reply from Cameron. Both Foreman and Chase rolled their eyes at her and went back to what they were doing.

After a while Cameron asked, "So who do you think she was?"

"I don't know. Probably a patient" answered Chase.

"I don't think so. Why would she have an appointment with Cuddy and Stacey?" responded Cameron.

"Maybe she's suing House. It wouldn't be the first time that happened you know?" retorted Foreman.

"No, that's not it either." stated Cameron. "She didn't seem pissed off at House and most of his patients whether they're suing him or not are usually angry with him about something or other."

"Whatever. We'll find out eventually. She said she was gonna come back up here to see House later" replied Foreman, "and maybe this time Chase won't make a fool of himself." he added.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn had made her way to Cuddy's office and was just about to knock on her door when she heard a voice behind her.

"You always were punctual Kate weren't you?" asked Stacey.

Kaitlyn turned around to see Stacey standing there with files in her left hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Kate smiled and said, "Only when I didn't get a ride here from Greg."

Stacey laughed at this and walked up to give Kaitlyn a hug. "It's so good to see you again. How've you been?"

Kaitlyn returned the hug. "I've been great. You know the life of a student, party, study, party, study, party, party, party, cram!" she said laughing.

The last time Kaitlyn had seen Stacey was just a few months after House's infarction. House and Stacey had constantly been fighting during the months after the surgery and after a while Stacey just couldn't take it anymore and left. Kaitlyn never blamed Stacey for what she did to House because she knew that Stacey probably saved his life and for that, she would always be grateful. However, she would never forgive her for going behind his back to do it and then when he needed her the most, leaving.

Kaitlyn tried to stay in touch with Stacey after that, but eventually they just lost touch with each other when Kaitlyn went off to college. She did however receive an invitation to attend Stacey's wedding to Mark Warner, but had finals and therefore could not attend. Kaitlyn was, for the first time in her life happy to have had exams. This meant that the decision of whether to go to the wedding or not was no longer in her hands. Although Stacey and Kaitlyn were pretty close to each other, they used to have a girl's night in and go shopping together all the time, Kaitlyn was much closer to House and couldn't betray him like that.

At this point Cuddy had begun to hear voices outside her office so she got up from behind her desk to see who it was. She opened the door and smiled at Kate. "Look who I found loitering outside your office Lisa?" said Stacey.

"Hey Cuddy!" replied Kaitlyn and embraced the dean of medicine for the first time in over four years. "It's good to see you after all these years."

Cuddy, smiling at Kaitlyn pulled Kaitlyn into her office and said, "Kate, it's been too long! Let me get a good look at you!"

Kaitlyn obliged, stood back and did a little twirl at which point Cuddy and Stacey both started to laugh. Kaitlyn had always loved the spot light and stepped into it every chance she got.

"Wow!" exclaimed Cuddy, "I think you're even more beautiful now then you were four years ago."

There stood Kaitlyn, all five feet 3 inches of her. She was a petite girl, however when she was angry she could make even the tallest man feel two feet tall. Just ask House.

The last time Cuddy had seen Kaitlyn, she had long dark brown hair that went all the way down to her hips and a figure that made all the girls jealous. She still had the killer body, but now her hair went just passed her shoulders and had highlights scattered in just the right places to accentuate her beautiful hazel colored eyes. If Cuddy didn't know any better, she would have sworn that Kaitlyn was a runway model.

"And you must still have all the doctors in this hospital running after you." responded Kaitlyn.

"I wish!" came Cuddy's reply. "But, they're all too intimidated to date someone who has achieved more than they have in life."

"Well then, they don't know what they're missing. And it doesn't matter anyways; because now I'm back, so we single gals can go man hunting together. Between me and you, the guys don't stand a chance!" winked Kaitlyn.

"Oh, Kate, you always were the outgoing one! But before we go any further, lets get down to the reason we asked you here in the first place." Said Cuddy, getting back into administrator mode.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. Those little email alerts make my day :-)

CHAPTER 4

House sat in the maternity ward lounge waiting for the clock to strike twelve so his shift in the clinic would be over and he could finally get some work done. He still had to figure out a way to win his recently acquired game, King Kong. No matter what he tried, he couldn't make it passed the 7th level. House had gotten so desperate that he actually went to see the new movie King Kong to see if he could get any pointers from the "real" thing. But alas, that turned out to be a dead end too.

House was actually a little bit surprised that Cuddy hadn't come looking for him yet. Usually she would be bugging him to finish his clinic hours to no avail. But today, nothing. No pages, no intimidating phone calls, no threats to stick his cane in a very unholy place, not a peep. This usually meant one of two things. Either she was in a very important meeting with a potential donor to the hospital and didn't want House to mess it up or she was planning something and it involved him in some way.

House guessed it wasn't the first option because no news of this potential donor had passed through the hospital grapevine. No matter how much House tried to deny it, he was a sucker for gossip. But hell would freeze over before he ever admitted this to anyone.

That only left option number two: Cuddy was planning something and it involved him. So to find out what was going on House decided to get the goods straight from the horse's mouth. He picked up his cane and made his way to Cuddy's office.

Meanwhile, back at Cuddy's office the three ladies were just finishing up their business.

"So, what do you think Kate?" asked Cuddy after she finished explaining all the details to Kate.

Throughout the whole meeting Kate sat and listened to Cuddy and Stacey explain the reasons for why they had asked her to come to see them. She didn't say a word nor did her expression change in the least bit during the whole meeting. This left Stacey and Cuddy a bit on edge.

Finally she spoke. "Are you guys really serious about this?" she asked, however her face remained expression less.

Cuddy and Stacy looked and each other and both simultaneously replied, "YES."

"And have you spoken to House about this?" she asked.

"No, we haven't," replied Cuddy, "But it isn't his decision to make. It's mine and this is what I feel is best for the hospital at this point in time."

Kate nodded her head at this and looked between the two women sitting in front of her. Her face had yet to show some expression, which was really starting to get Cuddy and Stacey nervous. Cuddy was sitting there fiddling with her pen, which was a telltale sign for Cuddy when she was nervous and Stacey kept playing with the folder that was sitting in her lap.

After what seemed like ages to Cuddy and Stacey, Kate looked up, the corners of her mouth turning upwards and said, "Okay."

"Okay?" asked Cuddy, not sure she had heard her right.

"Okay." came the reply once again and this time the smile grew larger. "But on one condition: I get to tell House."

Both Cuddy and Stacey looked relieved. "Deal!" they said in unison.

"Okay then. Cuddy, I'll come by tomorrow to fill out the necessary paper work. And remember, you never saw me." said Kate getting up to leave.

Once Kate left Cuddy's office, both Stacey and Cuddy looked at each other and Cuddy smiled and said, "Kaitlyn's back."

"Yup, she's back alright."

Once Kate left Cuddy's office, she headed towards the elevators to go up. She had just gotten on and the doors had just closed when the other set of elevator doors opened and out walked House.

A/N: Please review. I know the chapters are kinda short now, but they get longer. Promise!


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

House made his way towards Cuddy's office and entered without knocking. The two women were talking softly about the effects that having Kaitlyn here at the hospital would have on the staff and especially, House. House however, did not hear any of this as being so self-absorbed he starting talking right away not even noticing Stacey until he was half way through his rant.

"Cuddy, I am so disappointed in you. Is this any way to run a hospital? There," he pointed mindlessly towards the door, "in the clinic is a room full of patients, and a doctor hasn't been in to see any of them for the last 2 hours.

"Well House, could that have anything to do with the fact that YOU were on clinic duty and instead of seeing patients you were hiding out in the maternity ward lounge?" retorted Cuddy without missing a beat.

"Hey, so you did know where I was." At this point, realization was beginning to set in and House was now even more certain that the secret meeting between Cuddy and Stacey was about him.

"Hey, were you two trying to decide what to get me for Christmas?" said House smirking. "Because, just having the two of you show up in your elf and Santa suits for a threesome would be enough of a gift for me."

"But wouldn't that make Cindy or Bambi, or whoever is your latest hooker jealous?" asked Stacey.

"No, Amber," he emphasized, "is more than willing to share and I am more than willing to be shared."

"Don't you have somewhere to be House?" asked Cuddy, "Like in the clinic 'cause you now own me four hours."

"Aww, but mommy! The clinic is full of sick people and if I catch something then I might give it to Santa and then he won't be able to fly all around the world delivering his toys and then all the kids will cry on Christmas morning and you'll be to blame. I can't have that now can I? So I think I should just stay away from the clinic. It's the honorable thing to do. Wouldn't want to disappoint the children now would I?"

Cuddy laughed and said, "There are so many things wrong with what you just said, I don't know where to begin so I'm not even gonna try. Now go do your clinic duty!"

"Fine. But first tell me what you two were discussing. You know I'll find out eventually so might as well save us both the time and tell me now."

"Umm, I don't know House. What could the hospital administrator and the hospital lawyer be discussing? It couldn't be something to do with the hospital now could it? No way, that's impossible!" said Cuddy all the while; Stacey sat there with a straight face not disclosing anything.

House knew he wouldn't get any information while they were together so he decided to interrogate them individually later on. "Fine, I'm leaving. But I'll be back!" he said in his best Arnold S**chwarzenegger impersonation.**

**"Four hours House. Get to it!" said Cuddy to a retreating House. He kept walking and when he left Cuddy's office, he turned to go in the opposite direction of the clinic, but before he knew it, Cuddy was right beside him and turned his body towards the clinic and like a little solider, House reluctantly made his way to the clinic.**

In the meantime, Kaitlyn went to see her favorite wonder-boy oncologist as House used to put it. Every time Kaitlyn recalled Wilson, she would always picture him in a cape and tights and it would cause her to giggle uncontrollable. Fortunately for her, this time when she started to giggle she was in the elevator alone and therefore people weren't giving her strange looks as they usually did.

Wilson's office had moved to the same floor as House's office. In fact, their offices were now adjacent to each other. They had an adjoining terrace between their offices, which to Kaitlyn didn't seem like the smartest idea considering House's short attention span and his 'Do no work and don't let others do theirs either' policy.

In the midst of her thoughts, Kaitlyn had made her way to Wilson's office and had already knocked on the door. After a few seconds, she heard a faint "Come in." from the other side of the door.

"Hi Wilson!" she said entering is office and closing the door behind her.

Wilson looked up, shocked to see standing in front of him, none other than Kaitlyn Saunders. He was so shocked to see her that the only thing that he could get out was "Kate! What are you doing here?"

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Thanks again to those who reviewed. The more u review the faster I post ;-)


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you to every one that reviewed! I really appreciate it all. And I know ur all probably wondering whothe hell Kate is and I promise you'll find out in the next chapter. In this chapter you find out why Kate is here. ;-)

P.S. Don't forget to review on your way out :-)

**CHAPTER 6**

"Well it's nice to see you too Wilson." said Kate feigning hurt.

"Sorry Kate, you know that's not what I meant." replied Wilson getting up from his chair and rounding his desk to give her a big hug. Kaitlyn laughed as Wilson lifted her off the ground and twirled her as they hugged.

Kate had known Wilson for just as long as she had known House. They met each other threw House and became fast friends as they were one of the very few people that House could tolerate. They had grown really close over the years, especially after House's infarction. After Stacey left, Wilson and Kate were the only ones who stuck by House throughout the ordeal. Kate was twenty-two when House had his infarction and was headed off to college when the incident occurred. She stayed by him as did Wilson and tried to help him through the pain of possibly never being able to walk again.

Stacey left six months after the surgery and Kate was scheduled to go off to college in New York two months after that. She could not just desert House like Stacey did so when it came time to go to college she did, but made the long, strenuous trip back to New Jersey every weekend to see how House was doing. For the first few months, this worked out fine, however after a while the pressure of college started to catch up to her and she started coming less and less frequently. Eventually, four years had gone by and here she was today.

She did keep in touch with both House and Wilson within those four years, emailing and sometimes even talking to them over the telephone, however Kate always felt like she had abandoned House and felt that he felt the same way too. Wilson always denied it and said that he never once blamed her, however the feeling in the pit of her stomach never went away.

"So Kate, really, what are you doing here? You never mentioned anything about being back in town in the last email you sent me or House." Asked Wilson again.

"What, am I not allowed to surprise you?"

"Of course you are and it is a very nice surprise indeed, but if I know you Kate, and I do know you, something else brings you here."

"I could never keep anything from you could I Wilson?" she said laughing. "Okay, I'll tell you but you have to promise not to tell House, deal?"

Wilson looked at her skeptically, "Deal."

"Well, Dr. Wilson, if you must know, I was just offered a job." She said beaming.

"Really? That's great! So that means you're moving back to New Jersey right? We'll see you all the time now!" he said giving her another hug.

"Actually, you'll be seeing me more than you think. My new job is in this hospital."

Confused, Wilson asked, "Wait, what do you mean?"

"Okay well, you know how Stacey was only going to be the hospital lawyer until Mark got better right? Well, Mark is pretty much ready to go, so Stacey will be going back to her own practice soon. And since I recently just finished Law school, Cuddy offered me Stacey's position. She'll stay on for about a month until I get the hang of things and then I'm on my own."

Wilson was speechless. The first thing that popped into his head was "Does House know yet?"

"No, I told Cuddy and Stacey I wanted to be the one to tell him, so don't say anything to him okay?"

"No problem there. I don't want to be the one to tell him that you're going be the one to replace Stacey. With him, you never know how he's going to react. Although, I'm pretty sure he's going to be really happy to see you, even if he doesn't show it. However, how he'll react to Stacey leaving is a whole other story."

"So where are you staying? Do you need a place to stay, because you could stay with Julie and I while you find a place?" asked Wilson; still a little dazed from the information overflow he just received.

"Well, right now I'm staying in a hotel, but I already know where I'll be staying. But thanks for the offer." she winked at Wilson.

"Wait, wait a minute, you don't mean what I think you mean do you?"

"Yes I do." She laughed.

"So you mean that you'll be staying at-"

"Yup."

"And House is going to be okay with this?"

"House doesn't really have much of a choice in the matter now does he?"

Wilson started to chuckle, "Oh, it's good to have you back Kate. We've missed you."

"It's good to be back. And I've missed you too, but most of all I've missed my Housey. Now, I'll be back tomorrow to drop this bombshell on House. So remember, not a word."

Wilson pretended to zip his lips and watched Kate leave, wondering how he was going to keep House from prying this news out of him before Kate had a chance to tell him.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, my mistake. You actually find out Kate's relationship with House in a few chapters. oops, sorry. So to make up for my mistake, I'm actually going to post two LONG chapters at once. YAY! lol

So I hope you enjoy these next two chapters:-)

CHAPTER 7

The next day, Kaitlyn walked into Cuddy's office at nine 'o' clock sharp to fill out the proper paperwork and officially become a member of the PPTH staff.

"Welcome abroad Kate. It's going to be great having you back here again." Said Cuddy shaking her hand.

"Yea, and this time I get paid to work here." Replied Kate remembering her days at PPTH as a candy striper. She worked at the hospital ever since she was sixteen because her parents thought it would be a humbling experience for her and she that should give back to her community. At first she hated working there because they had her doing boring jobs like working in the gift shop or just filing paper work. But eventually she had been working there for so long that all of the nurses and doctors knew and trusted her with the "important" stuff.

She started working in the clinic as an admitting clerk who signed in patients for the doctors to see after about two years. Kate learned first hand why House hated working in the clinic. After working there for only six months, she was able to diagnose half the runny noses and aches and pains of the patients herself. In fact, when House was on duty, she would leave a little sticky note on the chart indicating what she thought was wrong with the patient and what to give them. It became a little game between the two of them and Cuddy allowed it because it was the only thing that actually kept House in the clinic until the end of his shift.

Everyone that knew Kate thought she would grow up to go to medical school and become a doctor, specifically a pediatrician. She had always loved little kids and could always be found in the maternity ward helping out the nurses. However, she had surprised everyone, House included and went to Law school instead. Stacey had a role in her choosing Law school over med school, however House indirectly decided the decision in the end for her.

House had had a very complicated case involving an eighteen month old with unexplained heart problems, which were further complicated by kidney problems. Kate used to spend all of her free time with the little boy, however Jason, she would never forget his name, died of complications during a surgery a few months later. Kate took it very hard however, not many people would have known it to look at her. On the outside she was still the bubbly and optimistic girl she had always been, but on the inside depression was slowly beginning to take over.

She had stopped eating and was not getting much sleep either. House being the ever-observant one noticed this and slipped a bottle of mild antidepressants into her backpack one day. They never talked about it nor did she ever thank him. However House kept an eye on her and made sure she took the pills regularly. Every time she ran out, there would be a refilled bottle in her backpack the next day. She never had to ask. This went on for several months and House had slowly been decreasing the dosage until eventually after her last bottle ran out, he never refilled it nor did Kate ask for it to be refilled again.

It was this episode that caused her to switch over to Law school. She couldn't handle the pain that came with having one of your patients die on you. However it was also this aspect of the job, which led Kate to have a heartfelt admiration for all doctors.

"Hey!" Cuddy said snapping her fingers, "Still with me?"

Kate came out of her daze blushing, "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about my candy striper days here. Those were fun times weren't they?"

"Yeah. Those were the only days I could actually get House to finish clinic duty." replied Cuddy. "Okay, so Kate just sign right here." She said pointing to the bottom of the page. Kate picked up the pen and signed and initialed in all the right places.

"Anywhere else?"

"Nope. I think that was the last one. But I do need you to get this filled out." She said and handed Kate the forms.

"What is this?" Kate said looking at the forms.

"Oh, it's just procedure. We need you to get a physical done. You will be working in a hospital after all."

"Oh, no problemo. I know just the doc."

"Well, if you mean House he's supposed to be in the clinic right now."

"Well actually I was talking about that hot Aussie doctor, but I guess House will do."

Cuddy laughed, "I see you've met Dr. Chase."

"Yep, and docs, Foreman and Cameron. Foreman seems nice, but Cameron seems a little uptight and Chase is just so much fun to bug."

"Wow! One meeting and you've already pegged each of them perfectly. You know, Cameron had a thing for House!"

Kate's eyes practically popped out of her head. "Really? No wonder she was ogling me the entire time. Oh this is going to be fun!" Kate seemed to wander off to Kate-land and Cuddy could only imagine the things she was planning to do.

"Okay, okay, you can do you're scheming later. But I need that form filled out before you can start working."

Giggling Kate replied, "Huh? Oh yea the forms. Okay well I'll be in examine room 2. You might wanna page House and tell him there is an important patient waiting for him in the clinic."

And with that she waved and walked off towards the clinic.

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Kaitlyn walked into the clinic and marched herself over to the sign in desk.

"Hi," she smiled at the receptionist, "I'm here to see Dr. House. I'm supposed to wait in exam room 2."

The receptionist handed her a clipboard with forms attached and without looking up said, "Fill this out and have a seat. The doctor will see you when he's available."

"Wait I, I don't think you understand. Dr. Cuddy sent me down here to get a---wait, Carol?" asked Kate, leaning over the counter so she could get a better look at whom she was speaking with.

The nurse finally looked up from what she was doing and said, "Yea, how do you know my name?" as she was eyeing Kate suspiciously.

"Well for one, it says it on your name tag," came the smart-ass reply, "and two, I worked along side of you here in the clinic for like, 2 years."

"OMG! Kate? Is that you? You haven't changed a bit! You look exactly like you did….how many years ago is it now?" said Carol as she walked around the front desk to give her a hug.

Getting a hug from Carol was like getting a hug from a big giant teddy bear. She was a large, middle-aged woman who had been working at PPTH for the past 20-odd years. Kate met Carol when she first started working in the clinic. They became real close friends despite age gap. Carol was a good 35 years older than Kate however, Kate tended to make friends with older people more easily than with people her own age. She just chalked it up to one of those life mysteries that one was not meant to understand.

"Really? I haven't changed a bit huh? Then how come you weren't able to recognize me from the moment I said hello?" quipped Kate

"Well Kate, if you had said hello I would have recognized you, but you said hi!" answered Carol without missing a beat.

"Touché."

"So what brings you back?"

"Well, let's see. I recently graduated from Law school. Was looking for a job, got a call from Cuddy. Came to see her. She offered me Stacey's position. I took it. Signed the papers this morning. Now I need a physical performed by House so I can begin. By the way, did I mention that House doesn't know I'm back yet?" said Kate all in one breath.

"Oh my! Well then, Congratulations, welcome back, and he doesn't know yet? Ooooo, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees you!" she laughed.

"Okay, so let's get you all signed in here." Said Carol, making her way back around the front desk to start registering the patient.

Because Kate had been to the hospital before, most of her information was still in the hospital database. "Is your address still the same Kate or have you moved?"

"Well, I'm staying in a hotel right now, but will be moving back into my old place soon. So the address should still be the same." Replied Kate.

Carol raised her right eyebrow and just smirked, to which Carol received a wink back in reply. "All done. Go have a seat in exam room 2 and I'll give House the chart when he comes in."

"Actually, can I take the chart in with me? Remember, he doesn't know I'm here yet and I want it to be a surprise. But if he sees my name on the chart it won't be."

"No problem hun. Here you go."

"Thanks Carol! You're the best! We'll do lunch when I get settled in and you can fill me in on all the gossip."

Kate then made her way to exam room 2, but not before making a beeline for the magazine stand. Knowing House, she knew that he would probably make her wait, no matter how important the patient was.


	8. Chapter 8

As promised, here is the next part!

CHAPTER 8

The pager attached to House's waist started to vibrate. He unclipped it from his belt buckle and read: 'Imp. pt. Ex R 2. GO!" House ignored the message and went back to doing what he did best, ignoring Cuddy. Not two minutes had gone by before the pager started to vibrate again. This time it simply read: "NOW!"

House figured he had about six and a half minutes before Cuddy came looking for him so he decided to make a run for it and hide before she could find him. He had just made it out of his office when he distinctly heard the sound of pissed off Prada heels marching his way. He thought about going back into his office to behind the cabinet, but it was too late. She spotted him.

"House!" yelled Cuddy across the long, narrow hallway.

"Dr. Cuddy please! We have sick patients in this hospital who are in the need for some peace and quiet so they may recuperate. Does no one have any decency anymore? What is this world coming to when the Dean of Medicine does not care enough about her patients to show them some respect?" said House quite loudly. Some people gave Cuddy dirty looks as they went by her, which seemed to please House to some extent because he was now supporting a smirk on his face.

"Shut up House!" retorted Cuddy cutting House off from further rambling. "I just paged you regarding a very important patient in the clinic. Why aren't you down there yet?"

"Cuddy, how insensitive can you be! You paged me not less than five minutes ago and you expect this cripple to make it down there in that amount of time." Said House feigning hurt. To this, Cuddy received some more disgusted glares and House received some sympathy glances.

Cuddy lowering her voice in attempt to get House to lower his as well replied, "Well, if you were in the clinic where you were supposed to be instead of up here playing with your Nintendo then maybe you would have gotten there faster and I wouldn't have had to come hunt you down."

"And what made you think I wasn't in the clinic in the first place?"

"Have you ever done what I have asked you to do?"

"No."

"Then you have your answer now don't you?"

"In that case, if you know I never listen to you, then why are you so angry? How is this time any different from every other time I ignore you?"

By this point House was feeling pretty smug, thinking he had once again outsmarted Cuddy as she had an exasperated expression on her face which usually signaled her giving up and walking off leaving House to do whatever he wanted.

"Fine House, you win. You don't have to go see the patient in the clinic. I'll just have Wilson do it. Too bad though, I thought you wanted to know what Stacey and I were discussing yesterday, but if you're not interested that's fine." She said as she began to walk away.

The smirk House had plastered on his face for the last 10 minutes slowly began to disappear. He now had a dilemma. Go downstairs and find out what the meeting was about, but thereby admit defeat, or let Wilson see the patient, but remain clueless about the meeting. He had to think fast. "Cuddy!" he yelled trying to by some time.

Cuddy's mouth slowly curled up into a smile when she heard his voice. She crossing her arms over her chest turned around and replied sweetly, "Yes Dr. House?"

House hated giving in to Cuddy but his curiosity was getting the best of him so he reluctantly responded, "Why do you want to bother dear, old Wilson? The poor guy has enough on his plate with dying patients and all. Besides, you probably don't want to send an oncologist to see this patient. It might send the wrong message, considering they are SO important. I'll see them myself."

"Oh, you're right Dr. House. What was I thinking? You better go though, don't wanna keep the patient waiting." Replied Cuddy, giving House his little victory.

"Right then. See what I do to save you're a$$ Cuddy. I wouldn't do this for just anybody you know? Just your body."

House limped passed Cuddy to take the elevator down to the clinic, but not before taking an extra long, exaggerated look at the a$$ he was supposedly saving.

In the clinic, Kate was patiently waiting in exam room 2 reading her People magazine. She was catching up on the latest celebrity gossip. When did Matt Damon get married? Who's too fat? Who's too skinny? And who's having a baby? There is not a dull moment in tinseltown thought Kate.

Outside in the clinic, House had just made his way to the nurse's desk. "Gimme the chart for the patient in exam room 2 please?" he asked Carol.

"The chart is in the room with the patient Dr. House" came the reply.

House did a double take. "Um….Since when do we give the patient the chart?"

"Well, the patient asked for it so I gave it."

"And what if they change something on the chart? The patient could be a drug addict, you never know?" he replied with every bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Well, it's kinda hard for them to change something considering the only thing that the chart says is: "Needs a physical." Came the reply once again. Carol had known House for so long now that his comments just rolled off her back.

This made House think again. He thought he could find out who the patient was by looking at the chart before meeting this mystery person, but that idea went out the window. He hated not being in the loop. If he was in the loop, he could not be blind sighted. But here he was, with no information at all, which actually peaked his curiosity a bit more but at the same time made him uneasy. So he decided to do the next best thing, ask Nurse Carol.

"So Carol, don't you look beautiful today. Is that a new uniform?" asked House trying to do his best nice guy impression.

"Thanks House and no its not." Said Carol rolling her eyes. She knew exactly what he was up to and wasn't about to say a thing.

"Sooooo, do you know who the person in exam room 2 is?"

"Yes"

"Care to share with the class?"

"Not really."

"C'mon, Carol. We go waaaaaaay back. Tell me who's in there."

"Go and see for yourself House. I'm busy. Unlike you, I actually have work to do."

"Go see for yourself House. I'm busy." Mocked House, scrunching his face. "Fine. I'm going." And with that, slowly and cautiously made his way to the exam room.

House walked up to the door to Exam Room 2, turned the handle and went in.

Kate looked up from her magazine, smiled and said, "Only made me wait 45 minutes. Hmmmm…..You're going soft in your old age House." She said as she began to laugh.

House had walked into the exam room half-expecting to see another rich, Armani-suit wearing, middle-aged man with a bald patch who just wanted to meet The Great Dr. Gregory House before donating millions of dollars to the hospital. Yes, House was that arrogant. He seriously believed that the hospital revolved around him, but then again he was not completely wrong. It was a well known fact that having Dr. Gregory House employed at PPTH was a selling factor when it came to getting donations.

House was not prepared for what he saw when he opened that door. He walked in and spotted a 26 year old sitting on the exam room table reading a People magazine. Not at all what he expected.

"Katie." Was all House managed to say.

Other than her parents, no one else called Kaitlyn, Katie except for House. She really hated it because she thought it made her sound like a child, especially since she had a bit of baby face which made her look younger than she actually was. She hated still being carded when she went out to clubs with her friends.

Kate rolled her eyes and replied sweetly batting her eyelashes, "Yes Housey?" That was Kate's nickname for House when she just felt like annoying him or wanted something from him. House hated it.

House, having recovered from the initial shock finally snapped out of his stupor when he heard this. He looked her over and noticed that she hadn't changed a bit except her hair was now shorter. "So Katie," he said purposely emphasizing Katie, "what brings you back?"

"Well Housey, I just missed you oh so much that I couldn't stand being away from you another second. So I packed my stuff, got on the next bus straight here just to see you. Don't you feel so special?"

"Really? You know I might just have believed you, if I didn't already know about your meeting with Cuddy and Stacey."

"You know already? Dammit, I told them I wanted to tell you. Who was it? I know Cuddy didn't tell you because I just spoke with her. It has to be either Stacey or Wilson. It was Wilson wasn't it? He can never keep a secret!"

House had no idea what Kate was talking about, but decided to play along. He also realized why Wilson wouldn't go out to have drinks with him last night. You get a couple of beers in that guy and he squawks like a certain Aussie trying to save his arse.

"Rookie mistake. Never tell Wilson anything. The whole hospital will know your business before the day's end. But I promised him I wouldn't tell you, so you can't tell him I told you that he told me what you told him not to tell me okay?" House thought if he confused her enough, she would give away the big secret.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah sure, whatever." By this time Kate began to get the feeling that House had no idea what he was talking about so she played along. "So tell me, what did you think when you found out?

"What do you think I thought?"

"I dunno. I can never tell with you. Whenever I think you will like something you never do and when I think you won't, you do." Kate was using House's technique on him in hopes of tripping him up.

"Well, how did you think I was going to react?"

"I thought you wouldn't go for it."

House went through a quick thought process. 'Okay, let's see here. Whenever she thinks I won't do something I do and vice versa. So if she thinks that I wouldn't go for it, then I probably would right?' House was beginning to get a headache from all of this double talk so he just replied, "Why wouldn't I go for it? I was a little concerned at first yes, but now I think it's an okay idea, as long as you stay out of my way."

"Really? That's great House! I was really worried there for a minute. Oh, by the way House….."

"Yeah?"

"You have no idea what the meeting was about do you?" asked Kate smirking.

"Not a clue."

"That's what I thought."

"What gave me away?"

"The me staying out of your way part. That is guaranteed not to happen."

"So why are you back?" asked House growing more and more irritable by the minute.

Kate noticed this and decided to have a little fun with good, old Housey. "C'mon House. A smart diagnostician like you should be able to figure this out pretty easily."

House turned to go out the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Kate asked still smiling.

"Gonna go ask Wilson."

"You could do that, but that would require you to buy him some drinks first which requires you paying for those drinks. And in any case, he didn't go drinking with you yesterday, and he won't be going tonight either because he's having dinner with me. So if you really want to wait until tomorrow, go right ahead, but I still need my physical done today."

House turned around and said, "Fine. But, I'll only do your physical if you tell me what the meeting was about." House thought he finally had the upper hand.

"Okay. But physical first."

"Nope, you first."

"Physical first."

"You first."

"Physical."

"You."

"House, do you really want me to call Cuddy?" And just like that, House lost his upper hand.

"Fine." House grabbed the chart that was sitting on the exam table beside Kate and pulled out his stethoscope.

He lifted her shirt so he could slide the end of the stethoscope up her back to listen to her breath sounds. As he lifted her shirt, he noticed a small tattoo on her lower back. It was the scale of justice and on each end was a caduceus, a snake wrapped around a stake, the medical symbol. House began to chuckle. "Nice tattoo."

"Thanks. I thought you'd like it."

"Only you Katie would get such an odd tattoo. What, was the skull and crossbones taken?"

"Ha ha, aren't you just hilarious. I like being unique thank you very much. And what better way than to get a tattoo of my profession?"

Light bulbs starting going off in House's head, things began to click. She's a lawyer now. He hadn't realized that it had been four years since she went to law school, until now. So she is probably looking for a job, which is where Cuddy and Stacey come in. The puzzle pieces were beginning to fit into place. Cuddy offered her a job and she accepted. Hence the physical.

House stopped what he was doing and reached for the chart. He opened it and there sat a medical examination form with the PPTH header.

"So the great diagnostician finally figured it out huh?" asked Kate looking at him for some sort of reaction.

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Don't forget to review on ur way out. Just click that little button. You know u want to. ;)

**P.S You DEFINITELY find out who Kate is in the next chapter. So the more reviews, the faster I post.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! I was overwhelmed with the replies! You guys rock:-)**

**Okay so FINALLY in this chapter you get to find out who exactly Kate is. It's unconventional yes, but I don't think anyone has ever taken this angle before. Hope u like:-)**

"So you're the new hospital lawyer." Kaitlyn wasn't sure if House was asking her or stating a fact.

"Um…..yea." She replied, utterly confused.

Kaitlyn did not know how to respond to House's reaction, mainly because House didn't really have one. His face remained expressionless. This was not because House was trying to remain aloof or detached, but more because he himself didn't know how to react.

On the one hand, Kaitlyn, his Katie was back, but on the other hand, this meant Stacey was leaving. The two reactions sort of cancelled each other out and his expression was just neutral.

"C'mon House say something. You're beginning to freak me out. Snap out of it!" said Kate waving her hands in front of his face.

House snapped out of his daze, but wasn't sure what he should say. He wasn't the congratulatory type so he did what he always did when a situation got too intense for him. He reverted to his sarcastic self.

"I can't believe Cuddy made you the new lawyer. What was she high when she made that decision? I should start counting my pills. She's probably mooching off of me."

'A sarcastic response. Why am I not surprised?' thought Kate. At least it wasn't a negative response. Before accepting the job, Kate wondered how House would react, but only for a second. She figured if he didn't want her working there, too bad. She was going to whether he liked it or not.

"Will you ever grow up Housey?" she said rolling her eyes.

"Hey, if you're going to be working here, that's Dr. Housey, I mean, Dr. House to you."

"Fine, then it's Miss Saunders to you, Dooooccttoorr House." House just gave her a 'never gonna happen' look and turned to grab the biggest needle he could find to take some blood from Kate.

"Now, hold still." He said while grabbing Kate's arm.

"Oh, hell no! Don't even think about it House. That's not funny. You don't need to take my blood. You know I'm healthy, so just sign the forms so we can both get out of here." Kate said while jumping off the examination table and heading towards the door. But House was too fast for her. He limped in front of the door to block her only exit and just stood there with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Is the new hospital lawyer advising me to lie about treating a patient? I'm shocked. What kind of doctor would I be if I didn't give my patients the best of care?"

"One that will need a wheelchair if you come any where near me with that thing." She replied, pointing at the needle House still held in his hand.

"Okay, what I don't get is A) you wanted to be a doctor and B) You have a freaking tattoo on your back! Hello! Those are done with needles! Very pointy, very sharp, very painful needles."

"Well, A) doctors poke others with needles, not themselves dumbass and B) I was very, very drunk at the time." She said the second part like it explained everything.

"Now, I know you didn't just call me, the guy holding the gi-normous needle a dumbass." he said moving towards her.

Kate was beginning to panic. She always spoke before thinking and it always landed her in trouble, especially with House. "Of course not Housey. Why would I do that? What I said was 'doctors poke others with needles, not themselves,ahh..NICE ass. I was just giving you a compliment." She said putting on her best innocent child impression.

"I know. Those butt clenches I do every morning are finally paying off. But nice try, have a seat."

"No, House please! You know how much I hate needles. Please I'll do anything." Kate had reduced herself to pleading.

"Sorry Katie. You know I wouldn't do it if it weren't absolutely necessary. I'm guessing the last time you had a physical was the last time you saw me right?" She didn't respond. "That's what I thought."

"So I have to take some blood, just to make sure your fine. And it's just an added bonus for me that this causes you immense discomfort. I love watching you squirm. It's better than General Hospital." He said smiling deviously.

"Shut up House." She said while sticking out her tongue. "Just make it quick." And with that she squeezed her eyes shut and waited forit to be over.

House reached over for some cotton balls and wiped her arm down with the alcohol. "Oh, what big veins you have there, Katie." He said trying to get a reaction out of her. But Kate just remained absolutely still.

"Okay, I've got the needle. It's really pointy and really, really big. I'm going to pierce your arm with it now. I'm five inches from your arm now." Continued House, giving a play-by-play commentary as he went along. However, right before he stuck the needle in her arm, he grabbed a smaller needle. He really didn't need the needle used for lumbar punctures for a simple blood test. "Four, three, two, one, and we've made it. Oh here comes the blood. Look Katie, look how fast it's filling the tubes." House got all the blood he needed. He removed the syringe and tossed it in the hazard bin.

"All done Katie. Here, have a lollipop." He said and tossed her a red one.

She walked over to House, and smacked him across the back of his head. "That was for being cruel. And this," she said hitting him again, "was for giving me a red lollipop when you know my favorite is orange."

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House and Kate both walked out of the exam room with matching lollipops. It was a sight to be seen. They were both sucking on their respective lollipops and were bantering back and forth about something or other. Every time either one of them spoke, they would take the lollipop out of their mouth and shake it at the other person.

Carol just watched the two of them make their way to the elevators arguing about something. She couldn't hear what they were arguing about, but was able to catch a few words.

"No way!……my …..no….. house….No way!"

"….Bad…..choice……your fault."

Both House and Kate got on to the empty elevator and headed up to House's office.

"There is no way you are staying at my place!"

"Why not? It's only going to be for a few days anyway. Besides, it's your fault that I can't move into my place right away."

"My fault? How the hell is it my fault?"

"Well if you didn't scare away every tenant after they've been there for only two months, then the last tenants wouldn't have trashed the place when they left. Now, I have to get the place exterminated because they left food all over the place and it attracted mice and God knows what else! I have to get the whole house painted because whoever had kids, scribbled all over my walls. And I have to buy a new fridge because there is some weird mold growing in there that I'm afraid to touch."

"Well, is it my fault all the tenants were idiots. I mean, the people with the kids, I believe they were tenant number six; their kids were just plain stupid. Every time I came out of my house, they would run up to me and say 'why do you walk with a cane? My grandpa walks with a cane? Are you my grandpa?' Every single time! You'd think after telling them I wasn't their grandpa for the millionth time they would have gotten the idea!"

Kate started to laugh. "Okay fine grandpa, what was your problem with the last tenants?"

"Those jackasses? Tell me, did you even look at their application before renting them the place to them or did you just pick them off the street?"

"What was wrong with them? They were engineering students. They looked pretty decent, actually a bit nerdy to me. What problem could they have caused?"

"They were so obnoxious! And they always cooked this weird dish that made the whole neighborhood smell funny for days. I did the neighborhood a favor by getting rid of them. The value of the neighborhood went up 10 percentafter they left."

"Do I even want to know what you did to make them leave? Wait, no, I don't want to know. Anyways, it doesn't matter House. The point is, it's your fault and therefore you have to take me in, you have no choice. I'm your landlord and you have to do what I say. So there!"

"Well first of all, your parents are my landlord and secondly where in my contract does it say that I have to give my landlord a place to stay?"

"Actually, when mom and dad moved to Florida they transferred all the property to me because they figured I was going to stay in Jersey and therefore I could handle it better. So technically, I am your landlord or landlady I should say. And no it's not in your contract, but c'mon House, we've being next-door neighbors for over 15 years. What is this world coming to if one neighbor can't help out another huh?"

"Aghhh! Fine! But don't expect my to give you a ride to work everyday. Just 'cause we're going to be living together for a few days don't mean I'm your chauffeur."

"It might be more like a few weeks, but yayy! Thanks Housey! Or should I say roomy!" She said and gave him a great big hug and a kiss on the cheek right as they reached his office.

Three very curious pairs of eyes witnessed this display of affection and recognized the women as the one from the previous day. They all looked at each other confused and made their way into House's office as fast as the possibly could without making it look obvious.

"Hey House. This was the girl we were telling you about yesterday." Said Foreman, because he was the only one bold enough to ask House about her.

"Oh, so you're the one that made Chase look like a fool yesterday. I should have known it was you. But then again, it doesn't take much for Chase to make an ass out of himself." House said looking between Chase and Kate while kicking his feet up onto his desk.

It was now Cameron's turn to speak as Chase tried to make himself look as small as humanly possible. "Sorry, we didn't catch your name yesterday. You ran out of here before we got a chance to ask."

Kate glanced over at House, winked and replied with a straight face, "I'm Kate. House's trophy girlfriend. Or his hussy as he so adoringly calls me."

All three ducklings froze. They just stood there trying to think of something to say to get them out of this embarrassing and awkward situation. All the while, both House and Kate were struggling to keep a straight face.

**A/N So there ya go! What did you think? I know I've made you all wait so long to find out, but now it's my turn to do the waiting. Plz Review so I know what you thought!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay here's the next chapter. Thanks to all of those who reviewed. **

**P.S. This takes place before we find out that Julie is cheating on Wilson. So for now, we're going to pretend that didn't happen ok? Okay. ;)**

**CHAPTER 13:**

"Anyways, I gotta go. Stacey's introducing me to my assistant today. Apparently, most of what she does has to do with you House. Don't you feel special?"

"I always do." Replied House ignoring the sarcasm in Kate's voice.

"So I'll see you at dinner tonight? The usual place?" Asked Kate with a hint of mischief in her voice.

It took House about two milliseconds to catch on and he simply replied, "Yep."

The three ducklings kept looking at each other trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Since when did House start seeing someone? And how is it that we never found out? These were just some of the thoughts running through their heads. Chase had an expression of utter shock on his face wondering how House bagged a girl as young and hot as Kate. Why was it that all the young, hot girls who should be interested in him were only interested in House? Maybe it's the limp or the five o clock shadow, he thought. He was seriously contemplating not shaving for the next few weeks to see how things worked out.

Foreman couldn't believe that House had been getting some for the past….God knows how long especially from someone as fine as Kate and was still a bastard 99.9 of the time, actually make that 100 of the time. He kept shaking his head in disbelief. That man would never change, he thought.

Cameron's mind was racing a mile a minute. Where did this chick come from? How long has she been in House's life? Is she why he said he didn't like me? Did he start going out with her before or after our date? And why does she have a usual place to eat dinner with House and we're not even allowed to sit in a 10 meter radius of him in the cafeteria?

Little did they know that both House and Kate were just messing with their heads. They didn't have a usual place to eat dinner unless you counted House's living room eating cold pizza from two days ago.

"Okay. See you then Greg. And wear that blue shirt of yours tonight. It brings out your eyes." She said. Kate then proceeded to wink at House and walked out of the office as fast as she could before she lost it.

All three doctors turned to look at House who just sat there with the biggest smirk on his face. "What can I say? The ladies love the eyes. Aren't I right Cameron?" he asked batting his eyelashes for emphasize.

Cameron turned beet red and averted her gaze from his beautiful blue eyes. "I've got clinic duty." She mumbled and ran out of the room as fast as her legs would allow her. The other two just stared at House.

"Am I gonna have to start wearing sunglasses at work? I don't need you too pining over me too you know. One duckling is enough. Kate is the jealous type. I don't think that she will be able to handle all three of you, especially since we work so close together."

Both Chase and Foreman quickly looked away causing House to grin even more.

"Don't you too have something to do?" House said as he reached for his gameboy and turned it on.

Chase looked like he was going to say something but then decided against it and headed for the conference room where he left his unfinished crossword puzzle when Kate came in. Foreman just followed silently behind him leaving House to defeat the bad guys and rescue Peach from danger.

"Knock, knock." Said Kate as she entered Stacey's office.

Stacey looked up and smiled. "Right on time."

"Kate, I'd like you to meet you're new assistant, Anna. Anna, this is Kaitlyn Saunders. She'll be taking over after I leave."

Anna smiled and stuck out her hand. "It's nice to meet you Miss Saunders."

"Miss Saunders? No no no. If we're working together, you have to call me Kate. Miss Saunders! I'm like only 7-8 years older than you. Way to make a girl feel old!"

"Sorry, Miss Sau...I mean Kate." Replied Anna blushing.

"Don't sweat it. Just never call me that again." Shudders. "Unless you're answering the phone or something. I like things informal. Makes everything easier and more comfortable don't you think?"

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While Kate was getting herself acquainted with her new assistant, Wilson had slowly made his way over to House's office. He opened the glass door to the office and was greeted by an oversized ball aimed at his head. Luckily he saw the ball and ducked away just in time.

"Haha, missed me." Just then a pink rubber ball was launched at him and this one caught him on the side of the head.

"Hey! What was that for?" asked Wilson while rubbing the side of his head.

"Well, that one was 'cause the first one missed you." Replied House nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but that was a rubber ball House! Don't you know how hard those are? They really hurt!"

"Aww, did the poor wittle oncologist get a boo-boo. Do you want me to call a nurse to come kiss your boo-boo and make it all bettaw?" Asked House in the most annoying baby talk ever.

"Shut up House and stop avoiding my question. Why did you aim the ball at my head?"

"I wasn't avoiding your question. I answered it. It's not my fault that you weren't specific. I'm not a mind reader you know Jimmy."

By this time Wilson was pretty frustrated. He came in to ask House if he wanted to go to lunch and instead had to put up with House's usual sarcastic banter. Normally he had no problem keeping up his side of the conversation, but he was beginning to get a headache thanks to a certain rubber ball and he was pretty sure that it was going to leave a bump. So Wilson changed his mind and got up to leave. He decided that House could buy his own lunch today. Besides, he had to go find some ice to put on his head.

"Since when did you start keeping secrets from me Jimmy?" inquired House as Wilson reached for the door.

At this, Wilson turned around a bit shocked and replied, "Secrets? What secrets?" He was looking everywhere except at House. Wilson had this little thing that he did with his eyes when he was lying. He would look either at your forehead or at your nose, but never directly in your eyes. House always found this really funny. He couldn't understand how a grown man hadn't yet figured out that a person couldn't tell whether you were lying by looking into your eyes.

"You know what secrets. I'm really disappointed in you Jimmy."

"Look House. I just took that nurse to lunch and we just talked. That's all. There was nothing more to it. I love my wife and am trying to make my marriage work so don't start in on me today." Wilson said all of this in a single breath. He was not in the mood for one of House's infamous comments, especially with the increasing pounding headache he now had.

"Umm…okay. I was actually talking about Katie, but your other secret is juicier. Let's stick to that one shall we?" replied House smirking at this newfound information.

Wilson mentally kicked himself and blamed his stupidity on his head injury. He wasn't thinking straight. Maybe he should go see Foreman.

"Oh that secret. I didn't find out she was here until yesterday and she made me promise to keep it a secret. She wanted to surprise you." Quickly replied Wilson trying to steer House away from his other little secret.

"Is that why you were avoiding me like the plague yesterday? You knew you would break down and tell me she was back before she got a chance to if you saw me. Oh Jimmy, you have no self control do you?" Wilson knew House meant more than he said by that last statement but chose to ignore it as he did with many of House's statements.

"So, what was it like seeing her again after all these years?" Asked Wilson moving back into the office and making his way to the chair directly across from House's.

"God Wilson, it's not like she was returning from war. Stop being so melodramatic." He replied rolling his eyes. "But it was good. It's gonna be interesting having her around again." House couldn't bring himself to say he was glad Katie was back, but Wilson being his bestest buddy in the world, understood the meaning behind his statement once again. Come to think of it, Wilson had to uncover the hidden meaning behind House's statements more often than not. It's surprising that he didn't get headaches more often.

"So is she moving back into her townhouse next door to you or is she gonna find a new place to stay? Actually, I remember her saying something about her living arrangements and you. I didn't catch on to what she was saying though. What was that about?"

"Aghhhh" sighed House. "Our little big girl seems to think that I had something to do with the tenants that trashed her place so she has decided that she is going to stay with me until her place is all cootie free."

"Well technically she's right. They never would have left the place in such terrible condition had you not practically driven each tenant to the brink of insanity."

"You always did take her side." Pouted House.

"She wasright most of the time." Retorted Wilson.

"Oh yea right. You're telling me it had nothing to do with the fact that she was a chick magnet for you when she was a child. The way you had her trained to call you Unckie Jimmy every time there was a hot chick around."

"Well yea there was that and the fact that she was and is a lot cutier than you."

"Oh you hurt me Jimmy." Replied House with a wounded expression on his face.

He then proceeded to get up from his chair and head for the door. "You coming?" he asked without looking back and then continued to limp out the doors to the elevators. Wilson just shook his head and chuckled to himself. That was House's way of saying 'now that I got all of the information I can out of you, it's time for lunch. And you're paying.' He really should write a Housian to English translation dictionary. He could make a fortune just from Cameron alone. That girl would do anything for a little more attention from House.

Wilson got up quickly and made his way over to his best friend who was impatiently waiting for the elevator. "So Jimmy, want to tell me more about this lunch date of yours?"


	11. Chapter 11

Okay, here's the next chapter. hope you like. Lemme know what ya think ;) And once again, thanks to those who reviewed. :D

CHAPTER 15

At 3 pm Kate made her way over to the diagnostics department to get ready to go home. She had met up with Wilson and House at lunch to go over the details of their living arrangements and it was decided much to his dismay that House would drive her to her hotel after work to pick up the few things she had brought with her from New York. After lunch, Kate made some phone calls and arranged for the rest of her stuff to be delivered by truck directly to House's place the next day.

She entered the diagnostics office by way of the conference room to find Foreman sitting at the table alone engrossed in a medical journal. The other two lackeys were nowhere to be seen. Kate cleared her throat to get Foreman's attention, as he didn't notice her walk into the room.

"Oh, sorry didn't see you there." Foreman said a bit startled as Kate was standing over his shoulder looking at what he was reading. It was an article on the effects of a new SSRI.

"So where are your buddies?"

"Chase is finishing up clinic duty and Cameron's helping out the immunology department. They're a bit backed up today."

"And what about you?" She asked. Kate didn't really care what Chase and Cameron were up to. She was just trying to make conversation until House came back from where ever he was.

Foreman looked down at his journal and back up at Kate, "Reading."

Kate just raised an eyebrow at him and nodded. She then proceeded to go over to the coffee machine and pour herself a cup of coffee. It was not gone unnoticed by Foreman that Kate was drinking out of House's red mug.

"So you and House huh?" asked Foreman cautiously.

"Me and House what?" replied Kate sipping her coffee. She decided to have a little fun with Foreman as she waited for House to return.

Foreman regretted bringing up the conversation the moment the words left his mouth. He began playing with the pen that was resting on the table and tried to avoid eye contact with Kate. "Nothing. It's just what you said this morning." Responded Foreman, choosing his words carefully.

"What did I say this morning?" Kate was not about to let him off the hook that easily.

"Umm. Nothing. It's none of my business." Foreman hoped that would be the end of the conversation.

"No that's okay. Ask away." She said smiling sweetly.

Foreman didn't know what to do. He considered pretending his pager went off but didn't think a smart woman like Kate would fall for that. Just as Foreman was deciding on what he could say to get out of this situation, House limped in, eyeing Foreman suspiciously.

"Trying to make a move a Kate, Foreman? I thought I made it clear that she was not available." He said as he looked between Foreman and Kate.

Chase and Cameron walked into the conference room together and abruptly stopped talking to each other when they saw the scene before them.

"I was not making a move on her House. We were just talking."

"Oh really. About what?" Smirked House, knowing perfectly well what they were talking about.

Foreman opened his mouth to reply but Kate cut him off before he got a word out. "Relax House. It was nothing important. Let's go. I'm hungry." She said getting up from the conference table.

House frowned at her for ruining his fun before walking over to her, grabbing the red mug out of her hands and draining the contents. "My mug." He replied before handing her the mug back to put in the sink.

"I know House. I was the one that bought it for you remember?" Kate replied rolling her eyes. "Now let's go. My stomach will not fill itself and we still have to move my things into your place. Correction, **our** place." She added the last bit in just to see the look on Cameron's face. Cameron was playing with the folder she was holding in her hand when Kate made that comment. Kate never saw anyone's head move that quickly in her life. It took all of her strength for Kate to turn to House and tell him that she would meet him downstairs without bursting out in laughter. House however, kept a straight face throughout the whole episode. He had perfected his poker face over the years and it took a lot to break him. But even House had to admit, Cameron's reaction was priceless.

After both House and Kate were gone the ducklings looked at each other in amazement. They had just learned some real insightful information about their boss. One, House was really protective of Kate, two, they have obviously known each other for a long time if she was the one that bought him the red mug, three, he cared for her a lot because he doesn't let any one touch his red mug, and four, Kate and House were moving in together. What was going on here?

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House walks into his apartment and throws his keys on the side table. Shortly thereafter, he is followed by Kate who is struggling with her duffle bag in one hand and a box of pizza in the other.

"No, no. That's okay. I'm fine. No need to help me." House shrugs at her and walks over to the couch. Kate glares at him but realizes that glaring at the back of his head is not going to make him magically get off his ass and help her so she heads off into the kitchen to put the pizza on the counter. Kate then makes a beeline towards the bedroom hoping that House doesn't see her, but alas she is not so lucky.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Where do you think your going?" House asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Umm. Well considering I am a guest here, I just assumed that I would take the bedroom while you would graciously take the couch." Kate replied batting her eyelashes at him.

"Okay two things. First of all, I did not invite you to stay here. You invited yourself. So although there was an invitation somewhere in there, it went in the wrong direction. It was supposed to come from me to you, not you to me. Therefore you are _not_ a guest."

"And second of all…?"

"And second of all, when have you ever known me to do anything graciously?"

Kate just shakes her head knowing better than to think that that line would have worked on him and sets her duffle bag down beside the couch. She then proceeds to make her way back into the kitchen and grabs the pizza box and two cans from the fridge, one beer and one diet coke. 'What is House doing with diet coke?' she wonders.

She sets the pizza box onto the coffee table and throws the diet coke at House. He catches it and eyes what she's drinking.

"Aren't you a little under age to be drinking a beer?"

She rolls her eyes and replies, "I'm over 21."

"Yeah, well my house, my beer." House says as he tries to reach for the other can. However Kate is faster and snatches it away from his grasp.

"Trade ya? Beer for remote." Asks Kate.

"How about beer for a place to sleep tonight?"

"Nope, already got a place to sleep."

"Not for long."

Kate opens the can of beer and looks over at House again. She picks it up puts it up to her mouth. "Last chance."

Reluctantly House throws the remote over to Kate who seems pleased. 'Too bad House doesn't know that I stopped drinking after the whole tattoo fiasco' muses Kate. She hands the can over to House and grabs the unopened can of diet coke.

"Why do you have diet coke anyway?"

"Wilson." House spoke that one word as if it explained everything and apparently it did because Kate did not inquire any further. Instead, she turned on House's TIVO and picked out an old episode of the OC to watch. House had already seen it but was content to watch it again because it was the season finale of the first season and he liked that episode.

House opened the pizza box and grabs a slice of pizza and begins to stuff it in his mouth and downing it with half the can of beer. "Someone's hungry" chuckles Kate. House just gives her a 'What are you looking at?' look and gets back to stuffing his face.

Kate grabs herself a slice of pizza and notices that House has put olives on it. She glares at him because he knows that she hates olives. He tries to concentrate on the O.C. but Kate can see the corners of his mouth turning upward. She tries not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her pissed so she just picks off the olives and throws them back onto the remaining pizza.

After finishing off the whole pizza (House had 6 slices while Kate only had 2) Kate gets up to get ready for bed…er…couch. She changes into her pjs and makes her way back into the living room. House is still sitting there but the TV is off and he has his eyes closed with his head resting against the back of the couch.

"If you prefer to sleep out here I have no problem with taking the bedroom." Quipped Kate taking her seat next to House.

House opened one eye and looked over at her. "Nice try Goldilocks, but this couch is juuuuusst right for you."

Kate makes a face but doesn't say anything. She really doesn't want to take the bedroom, but just enjoyed annoying him. However, she does notice that something is bothering him. Half way through dinner, House had become increasingly quiet.

Even through his silences, House was able to convey more than his words ever could to those who were able to read him. There were only a select few that picked up on these moments like Wilson, Stacey and Cuddy; and Kate liked to think that she could sense when something was bothering him too. At this particular moment Kate felt like House was stressing about something and she had a feeling she knew what that something was too, but she did not know how to approach the subject. When it came to relationships, like House, Kate kept everyone at a distance too. She was okay with the lighthearted, easy going stuff, but when it came to feelings and emotions she tended to clam up.

"House?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm tried."

"So?"

"So, unless you want to be my pillow I suggest you get off of my 'bed' so I can get some sleep."

House opens his eyes and looks over at Kate. Wow, she grew up into a beautiful woman. He remembered the times that she used to come over every time she fell and hurt herself playing in her backyard. She would never let her mom or dad clean her cuts or scraps or take her to any other doctor when she was sick. "I want Doctoe Gweg" is what she used to say. At first, he was annoyed when she used to show up on his doorstep crying because she fell off of her swing _again_ and hurt herself _again_, but after a while she grew on him. And the fact that she stopped crying the minute he opened the front door always had him wondering if she really was hurt or just playing him so she could get a lollipop after he "fixed her up".

"House?" Kate said sleepily.

House is brought back from his thoughts at hearing his name. He shakes his head and looks away from Kate. He uses his cane to push himself off the couch. This takes more effort at the end of the day because all of his muscles are sore and ache more than usual. He stands up and pops two pills before heading to his room.

House is almost out of the room when he hears Kate sleepily mumble a "G'Night House" before rolling over and pulling the blanket over herself.

House nods in reply, turns the lights off and heads off to bed himself.


	12. Chapter 12

**Finally decided to update on Sorry..I'm just not used to updating on here. **

**But here's the next part.**

**CHAPTER 17**

Kaitlyn woke up the next morning at about 9am. She realized it was Saturday and didn't really have anywhere to be so rolled over and went back to sleep. She woke up again at noon with a cane prodding her feet. "Move." said the owner of the cane.

"mmppmmhh" came an irritated reply. "Go away." The prodding continued relentlessly until Kate finally curled her feet up and was lying on the couch in a fetal position. "Go sit on the recliner," came a now irritated and whiney reply.

"Make me." Said House before sitting down with his bowl of Lucky Charms and turning on the TV to watch SpongeBob. Kate tried to drown out the sounds of the television by covering her head with her blanket, but it soon started to get really stuffy under there and had to come out for some air.

She dramatically threw off her blanket and sat there glaring at House. "Well good morning to you too." She huffed at House and got up to go brush her teeth. House just sat there with a satisfied smirk on his face eating away at his Lucky Charms.

See, Kate was NOT a morning person and despised people who woke up with a spring to their step in the mornings. She just could not comprehend how someone could be so cheery in the morning. It was usually best if no one spoke to her for at least thirty minutes to an hour after she woke.

She returned from the washroom after washing her face and brushing her teeth and plopped back down onto the couch. She grabbed the blanket that was now on the floor and covered herself back up with it. She sat there staring at the television screen trying to get the sleep out of her eyes. "You know, for a girl that slept for over 10 hours, you're pretty cranky." Kate slowly turned her head to look at House and give him a "Don't mess with me right now" look before returning her gaze to the TV.

House found this was hilariously funny and decided to egg her on to see how far he could push her before she snapped. "Aww, what's wrong Katie? Not a morning person?"

Kate just ignored him and focused on the commercial for Pampers that was currently playing on the screen. Having gotten no reaction, House decided to up the ante. He grabbed the blanket that was currently shielding Katie from the cold and pulled it off of her and wrapped it around him instead. "What? I'm cold." He replied innocently when he saw the look she was giving him. Kate tried to snatch it back from him, but he had expertly wrapped himself in it and was now wearing it toga style. So instead she growled at him, because she wasn't at the forming words stage of her morning routine yet and headed off to take a shower. House satisfied that he filled his morning annoyance quota returned to watching SpongeBob.

Kate emerged from the bathroom a good 45 minutes later wearing her favorite pair of baby blue sweats that had "Too sexy" written across the bottom and a matching baby blue tank top. For someone that was freezing less than an hour ago, she sure did warm up quickly. She had washed her hair too, leaving the bathroom smelling like the fragrance of lavender and jasmine. The bathroom was filled with steam and sans hot water when she was done with it.

"Took you long enough! I thought you fell asleep on the toilet."

Kate walked into the kitchen and grabbed herself a bowl of cereal and headed back to the living room. "Nope. But I did leave the bathroom smelling all girly for you. You can thank me later." She said smiling.

House rolled his eyes and went back to watching TV, however it didn't go unnoticed by him that she was eating breakfast and this caused him to smile on the inside.

After finishing her breakfast, Kate got up to wash her dishes and noticed House's bowl resting on the coffee table so she picked it up too and went to the kitchen. House raised an eyebrow at this but did not comment. After washing the dishes Kate made her way back to couch but not before first smacking House across the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" he said rubbing that back of his head.

"That was for acting smart earlier. You know not to mess with me in the mornings House, so it's your own fault. You didn't really think that I would just let it go did you?"

House sat there pouting and rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh c'mon, I didn't hit you _that_ hard."

"No, but it still hurt."

"Good. It'll serve as a reminder for the next time you try to pull something like that in the morning." Replied Kate laughing. She then proceeded to throw a pillow at House in a twisted form of calling a truce.

House grabbed it, threw it back at her and got up to disentangle himself from his makeshift toga. "I'm going to go take a shower and you Katie, for God's sake, make your bed!"

Kate was about to reply when he threw the blanket over her head and headed off to the bathroom. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'I guess he can figure out there's no hot water the old fashioned way.' and went about making her bed.

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Monday morning came way to quickly. Kate was still getting used to the whole getting up early thing considering she never woke up before 11am if she could help it. And House, well House was House. He would never go into work if he got his way. He would be more than content to do his differential diagnoses from home via lots of cool technological gizmos as he puts it. However, he wouldn't get to enjoy his daily banter with Wilson and Cuddy and we all know how much he loves that! He could always annoy them with phone calls all day long, but that leaves them the option of hanging up on him and also doesn't really have the effect he's going for. He wouldn't get to see their shocked and appalled facial expressions at something he has said or done and let's face it, that's half the fun.

So they were both up and ready to go by 8:45 am and this morning Kate wasn't all that grumpy from having to wake up early as it was her first official day at PPTH.

"C'mon House, let's go! We're gonna be late!" yelled Kate from the front door where she had been waiting for the last 45 minutes. House was taking his sweet time in his bedroom and kept yelling 'Almost ready! 5 more minutes!' for the past half hour.

He finally emerged and took one look at the pissed off woman standing by his door, smirked and replied, "Sorry, had to iron my shirt." He had actually been in his bedroom for the past half hour trying to get to the fourteenth level of his most recently acquired game.

Kate took one look at his severely wrinkled shirt and was about to explode but thought better of it. They would stand there arguing for ages and before she knew it, House would make her late for work on her first day. So she forced herself to smile, which was really difficult because she really wanted to walk over and smack him around a couple of times.

"That's okay House. But now that your shirt is all wrinkle free, do you think we could go?"

House was a little surprised and disappointed that she didn't take the bait. He thought about telling her that he had to use the little boy's room before they left, but was actually a little afraid of her right now. She was smiling which would suggest that she was not mad, but her eyes were shooting daggers at him and the combination of the smile with the crazy eyes was well, a little scary.

House grabbed his keys from the side table and limped towards Kate. "After you Katie." He said while gently pushing her out the door.

"Finally!" said Kate exasperated.

She walked over towards his car and stood there waiting for him to open the door. When he didn't follow her towards the car she turned around to see what was keeping him this time. She turned around just in time to see House clipping his cane to the side of his motorcycle and hopping on.

"Umm, what are you doing?" asked Kate.

"Well, I thought it was obvious, but maybe not. I'm taking the bike to work today." He said as if he were talking to a four year old.

"And how am I supposed to get to work?"

"Oh, did you want me to drive you?" asked House innocently.

"HOUSE! Don't mess with me right now! I'm not in the mood."

"Would I do that?"

"Yes! House this is not funny. We have less than ten minutes left to get to work on time!"

House couldn't help chuckling at her, but took pity on the poor girl. "Okay, okay. Don't get your panties in a knot. Hop on." He motioned while patting the seat

Kate walked over to House and was about to get on when she suddenly stopped. "I need a helmet."

"Well, aren't we needy this morning."

"House!"

"Okay, okay. Here, put this on." He said taking off his helmet and handing it to her.

"Umm, okay. But then what will you wear?"

"Don't worry about me. I've been told I have a thick head." He said smirking.

Kate, who was already sitting on the back on his bike got off. "I'm not wearing your helmet."

"I don't have cooties you know. And frankly I'm a little upset that you would think so." House responded while wiping away a fake tear.

"Shut up House. I'm not going to protect myself while putting you in danger."

"Fine." He said grabbing his helmet back and putting it on his head. "You can ride without one. I promise not to kill you."

"I'm not going to put _myself_ in danger either."

"Well, I think we have a problem then. One helmet, two heads. What to do?"

"Let's just take the 'vette then."

"Nope. Taking the bike today."

"House!" whined Katie.

"Katie!" whined House back just to be annoying.

"House!"

"Katie!"

"Fine! Just go! I'm calling a cab!" yelled Kate grabbing her cell phone out of her bag. She hoped that he would back down, get off his bike and take the corvette into work. However, she was sadly mistaken.

House readjusted his helmet, started up his bike, and hollered "Okay! See you there!" before speeding away. He looked in his side mirror as he was driving away and saw one extremely pissed off looking Katie standing with her cell phone in hand.

Review please! Pretty please?


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry for the long wait. here's the next part ;)

CHAPTER 19

Kate was still fuming, irritated, and pissed off at House when she arrived at work 45 minutes late. There were not enough adjectives in the world to describe what Kate was feeling at the moment. The normally happy-go-lucky Kate who always had a smile on was now walking down the hall towards the elevator with a scowl that could rival House's. She was trying to get to her office as quick as possible as to minimize the number of people she had to interact with. Kate just knew that if she didn't make it to her office within the next 10 seconds she would end up exploding on some unsuspecting doctor or worse a patient, and her first legal case working at PPTH would have her as the defendant.

After waiting for what seemed like an extraordinary amount of time, the elevator doors finally dinged open. Kate was relieved that there was no one else in the elevators and got on hoping that maybe the quiet elevator ride would lighten her mood. However she was not so lucky. Right when the doors were about to close came a shout of "Hold the elevator!" from a very familiar Australian voice before a hand slipped in to stop the door from closing.

'Oh no, not now!' thought Kate willing herself to remain calm. The doors reopened and in entered Dr. Chase, but not before faltering when he realized who was in the elevator with him.

'Oh bloody hell, not again!' was what Chase was thinking as he pushed the button for the diagnostics floor. He had gotten his share of humiliation from Foreman and Cameron regarding their last elevator encounter and did not want a repeat of that episode.

"Hey. Nice weather we're having today isn't it?" asked Chase trying to cover the deafening silence in the elevator.

Kate smiled and nodded in reply hoping he'd get the idea that she was not in a talking mood and let her ride in silence. However, Chase was not that observant.

"Déjà vu?" he said laughing. "We have got to stop meeting like this."

Kate was beginning to lose her cool and was clenching and unclenching her right fist. She poked the button for her floor a couple of times hoping and praying the elevator would move faster.

Chase still didn't get the idea so he tried again.

"So you're late too huh?" That was her breaking point. She tried to remain calm as long as possible but couldn't handle it anymore.

"What is wrong with you? Can't you see that I'm not in a very good mood right now? What makes you think that I would want to have an inane conversation about the weather with someone in an elevator? And of course I'm late! That's the freaking reason for my bad mood! And I have your son of a b!tch boss to thank for that! And would it kill you to wait for the elevator like a normal person instead of shouting "HOLD THE ELEVATOR" like a maniac everyday!"

Kate was still ranting and raving when the elevator dinged on her floor. She turned around, rolled her eyes at Chase and walked out of the elevator as if nothing had happened. Chase just stood there shocked and truth be told, a little frightened. He just kept staring at her retreating figure as the elevator doors closed. Although he was a little shocked by her outburst, he couldn't help but think 'What a figure!' as he watched her walk away.

House was sitting in his office playing with his red and black ball waiting for the ball to drop so to speak. Katie's angry face in his side-view mirror was etched into his memory and although he knew all hell would break loose when she got a hold of him, he couldn't help but smirk.

Wilson walked into House's office as he did every morning just to see what House was up to, when he noticed House's little smirk.

"Okay, what did you do and who did you do it to?"

"Why Wilson, whatever do you mean?"

"C'mon on House. I know that smirk. It's the same smirk you have every time you pull one over on Cuddy. What did you do this time? And how long before she finds out?"

"I haven't done anything to Cuddy. Although now that you mention it, I am due."

"Okay, if not Cuddy, then who? Foreman? Cameron? Chase?"

"Nope, nope and nope. What makes you think I did anything anyway?"

"I know you House. If not them then who?" Then it hit him. "Kate! What did you do to Kate, House? You didn't play one of your stupid pranks on her last night did you? You can be so juvenile sometimes House." Exclaimed Wilson going into Uncle Jimmy mode.

"Relax Boy Wonder. I didn't play a prank on her."

"Then what? Wait, where is she? I didn't see her when I came in."

"Well my guess is she should be arriving just about now." Said House looking at the clock on his wall.

"Wait, you didn't come in together?" The wheels were beginning to turn. "But you were on time, so why would she be coming in just now? Did she sleep in and you just didn't wake her? No, that can't be it. How would you know that she should be arriving about just about now then? So what is it?"

House just shrugged and continued to smirk while watching Wilson figure it out.

Suddenly it clicked. "Oh my God, you left her! You left her at home, which means she had to take a cab, which means that she was late for her first day of work. What the hell is wrong with you?"

House said nothing, but was surprised at how quickly Wilson figured it out. He had to give it to the guy. His powers of deduction were getting better and better each year. Wilson continued to yell at House, but House had long ago learned to tune him out and was now thinking of what would happen when he came face to face with Kate.


End file.
